Australian cinema has offered striking, intelligent and forceful evaluations of our national identity. Rather than play an outdated gambling game this Australia Day, why not watch the best of Aussie film?

The 1850s gold rush in Victoria brought an influx of prospectors from China, seeking their fortunes.
National Museum of AustraliaJanuary 24, 2017

When Brian the farmer finished his poem the crowd went wild. Small wonder he earned the People’s Choice Award on the night. We were at a so-called poetry “slam” at a country hall in a place so tiny it…

A real national conversation about democratic values will be inclusive and challenging – not fear-mongering.
Is Azfar Ahmad/FlickrSeptember 26, 2014

Events in the Middle East that have both shocked and horrified us seem to have opened the doors to anyone who wants to criticise Islam, raise concerns about multiculturalism and romanticise an age when…

Negotiating our position in the world has been a constant facet of Australian art.
Tracey Nearmy/AAP September 16, 2014

Edmund Capon, the former director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) last week commented that Australian artists remain unknown overseas because their work is “too strongly defined by place…

Commonwealth Games mascot Clyde and Scottish swimming champion Gregor Tait get their symbols out in Sydney last year.
Daniel Munoz/AAP ImageJuly 16, 2014

Since September 2012, the mascot of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, Clyde the thistle, has been popping in and out of the media radar; greeting children, featuring on merchandise, cheerfully promoting…

The extraordinary 7-1 defeat of Brazil by Germany in the World Cup semi-final is richly ironic. Many Brazilians had hoped that by hosting the World Cup in 2014, their country could finally exorcise the…

What does Spain striker Diego Costa’s back story tell us about footballers and identity in the modern world?
EPA/Antonio LacerdaJune 22, 2014

People watching the World Cup match between Spain and the Netherlands earlier in the tournament may have been wondering why Spanish striker Diego Costa was vociferously booed every time he touched the…

The UK government has agreed to extend protected minority status to the Cornish – a status already granted to Scots, Welsh and Irish. This will require the government and public bodies to factor in the…

What would an Australian flag that acknowledged our past, present, and future look like?
John BlaxlandMarch 25, 2014

As we know, there’s a divide between those who would support a new Australian flag and those who believe the current flag is fine. And even those who declare an interest in a new flag are divided on what…